160 students at Taylorville Jr. High are out sick with the flu

Almost one fourth of the students at Taylorville Junior High missed school on Wednesday, parents called saying they have the flu.

Assistant Principal, Beth Vincent said parents started calling in absences on Monday saying their children were sick. Vincent said doctors are telling the parents Influenza-A is the main culprit.

The school is hoping to prevent the flu from spreading by directing students to wash their hands regularly and cover their mouths when coughing.

"We are hoping by next week it gets better. We have noticed it was mainly our 8th-grade class, it seems to be trickling down a little bit more now to the younger students so hopefully, we don't get another wave of them being absent next week," Beth Vincent, Assistant Principal at Taylorville Junior High said.

Vincent also says the school is cleaning and sanitizing doorknobs, desks and anything else students may touch. Most of the sick students will be out of school for about a week. Most of the teachers haven't been affected yet, with only a few calling in sick so far.